Christmas Days

We've passed Christmas Days in Sunderland a few times now and the other day we finally decided to pay it a visit. If you're short on things or ideas to decorate your Christmas tree — or if you just need a tree — you're in luck as they have everything you'd need. And I mean everything.

The building itself isn't too Christmassey but I bet it looks great decorated and covered in snow. You know you're in Vermont when the Christmas store isn't in the mall or the city centre, but just kind of there next to the 7A.

The first things that hits you are the beautifully decorated trees. And the decorations, hundred if not thousands of them. Alicia is a huge fan of Christmas and decorating for it, so she was a happy bunny the minute we stepped through the door. I have to admit that 16 years of California Christmases have tarnished it a bit for me; after all, nothing says Christmas like bright sunshine, palm trees and 68-degree temperatures. Now we're in a state that has actual seasons and there's a chance of a white Christmas, even this curmudgeonly old git is looking forward to it.

Cadbury approves.

There's enough models and figures for most of Dickens' London. The Criterion Theatre was my fave. 

Santas from around the world, although the British one just had a Union Jack stuck on him. I prefer the Welsh one, who rides around on Christmas night in a nicked Ford Escort pulled by six red dragons fuelled by Brains SA. The Welsh Santa is actually called Siôn Corn, meaning "John of the chimneypot" (I'm not making this up).

One of the many, many fantastically decorated trees on display.

I've never been a fan of these nutcracker thingies, and I have no idea why they're associated with Christmas.

How these trees are supporting this many baubles is beyond me, but they look fantastic.

A group of carolers performs traditional classics such as "This Turkey Is Never Gonna Defrost In Time," "I'm Out Of Cigs On Christmas Day And Nowhere's Open" and "Shit, Uncle Joe's Found The Drambuie".

Some Puritans take a break from slaughtering Indians and writing the rulebook for the Taliban.

The sort of tree Alicia would like, decorated in the way Alicia would like. After buying a couple of gifts for Alicia, I chatted to the owner for a bit and was surprised to find that they're open year-round, unlike Christmas shops in the UK which are chock full of cheap tat and squat in shut-down Woolworths for a couple of months before disappearing for the rest of the year, only to be reincarnated as Halloween shops in August. She said that in a normal year (2020 being anything but normal) they are busy all year, with people coming from all over the region as well as tourists and even some who fly in from other countries just to shop there. I'm not surprised, as if you're into Christmas then the Christmas Shop is perfect. We'll be going back again.